simmer
by cazlove
Summary: "Hey, boss lady," he says casually. "Have a delivery for you." The leader of Altea doesn't even pick her head up from the mass of papers on her desk. "I really don't have time for your jokes right now, Lance." "Damn. Guess I'll just take these two incredibly suspicious firebenders elsewhere."
1. Chapter 1

Lance doesn't like this.

"I don't like this," Lance says, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the two firebenders in front of him.

Of course this would happen while _he_ was on guard duty. The strangers don't seem particularly cowed by his response, and he redoubles his efforts at glaring.

"You don't have to like it to do the right thing," the shorter one of the two says, and Lance already doesn't like _him,_ either.

"Excuse me for doubting your sincerity," Lance responds, "but neither of you look like defectors." And it's true: typically, defectors of the Fire Nation are emaciated, covered in grime, and exhausted. Those that have managed to escape the despotic rule of the Fire Lord are _survivors,_ and by the time they make it to Altea, their appearances match the hell they've been through.

These two look like they waltzed out of the royal palace roughly five minutes ago.

"We have a very rigorous process for processing refugees," Lance lies, and from behind the walls he can hear someone stifling a giggle. Probably Pidge, that _traitor._

If they're going to force him to man the entrance, the least his allies can do is back him up, seriously.

"Look," the shorter firebender growls, and Lance doesn't have to try too hard to imagine steam coming out from his ears. "Take us to your leader and we'll be able to describe our situation in further detail."

The taller one places a hand on his shoulder and murmurs, "Keith…"

The thing is, Lance doesn't trust firebenders, and he never will. He may not have personally known anyone who died during the invasions of the Southern Water Tribe, but he's heard enough stories, and those were his _people._

And _these_ firebenders stink of a trap. (And of fire, which Lance privately thinks is even worse.) They're dressed just a bit too nicely to have travelled on foot across the Earth Kingdom, and the way the taller one holds himself is almost… regal.

Nope. Lance doesn't like this.

The firebender who doesn't look like he's about to hurl a fireball at Lance's face offers him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry if we seem suspicious. We are completely willing to tell you of our unique circumstances, so long as we're out of reach of prying ears."

He tips his head to the side, presumably to indicate such _prying ears._

"Fine," Lance says shortly. "But don't think you'll be able to pull any intimidation bullshit with _her._ "

One of the earthbenders opens the gate on Lance's signal, and the two firebenders trail after him as he makes his way into the labyrinth of Altea's base.

Allura generally oversees all potential refugees who come under her care, although Lance does technically have the authority to immediately clear anyone who seems in urgent need of food or medical care or anything of the like.

These guys definitely don't fit that bill, so Lance takes them directly to her office. As they round the corner, he can see that her office door is open.

"Hey, boss lady," he says casually. "Have a delivery for you."

The leader of Altea doesn't even pick her head up from the mass of papers on her desk. "I really don't have time for your jokes right now, Lance."

"Damn. Guess I'll just take these two incredibly suspicious firebenders elsewhere."

She picks her head up at _that._

Allura isn't too fond of firebenders, either. Something about them burning her city to the ground and killing her entire family, if Lance had to wager a guess.

But they're certainly not the first citizens of the Fire Nation to seek safety under the widespread protection of Altea, and Allura's a much more understanding person than Lance is, so she stands up from behind her desk and moves to greet their visitors.

To Lance's complete surprise, both of the firebenders immediately incline their heads in a gesture of respect.

"Princess Allura, it is an honor to meet you," the tall one says, and what the _fuck._ How do they know Allura's a princess?

Who _are_ these guys?

"My name is Shiro, and this is Keith. We come to you in a time of dire need."

Well. They're Shiro and Keith, apparently.

At least Allura seems as taken aback as Lance does. "Lance, shut the door. I have a feeling we'll need the privacy."

Lance nods and obeys. He notices the shorter firebender's eyes tracking him as he moves to close the office door, and realizes that it's because the guy expects him to _leave_.

For a nonbender, Allura is ridiculously strong, but Lance isn't about to leave her alone with two potentially dangerous firebenders, especially not if they know who she really is. He lays a firm hand over the cork of his water skin and leans against a nearby wall, challenging the bender to say something about it.

He looks like he's about to, too, shooting a glare at his nonchalant posture, but the other bender - Shiro - speaks before he can spit out some kind of insult.

"We're fleeing from the Fire Lord's reign," he starts, and isn't _that_ a story he's heard before. "We were informed that Altea may be able to offer us assistance. I've been held captive for several years and Keith rescued me. I trust him with my life."

Lance takes a look at Keith and thinks he wouldn't even trust the guy to make him _dinner._ He'd probably burn it.

"You look pretty well-fed for a prisoner," Lance says after raking his gaze over Shiro's frame. (What? He can appreciate beauty, even if the guy's a _firebender._ ) "Why'd you need to escape?"

Shiro smiles at him, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Maybe it's easier if I just show you."

And then he's moving into a traditional firebending pose. Lance has his skin uncorked and a water whip ready before Shiro even summons fire within the curve of his fingers. He's distracted enough by the show of bending that he nearly misses how Shiro's arm moves in a complicated maneuver that's _almost_ recognizable, and then he's hit with the bizarre sensation of his water whip being wrenched from his grasp.

Shiro bends the water around him in an arcing circle, even as he carries a steady flame in the palm of his hand.

A tiny, tiny part of Lance is piqued that someone managed to bend his own water away from him, but it's squashed by the rest of his consciousness, which is fairly screaming at the fact that he's apparently witnessing the fucking Avatar in action.

Suddenly, the water floating about Shiro's body falls harmlessly to the ground, and the bender shrugs sheepishly. "That's about all I can do with waterbending. Masters aren't very common in the middle of Capital City."

"You're the Avatar!" Lance blurts out, and he's shocked enough that even Keith's loud scoff goes mostly unnoticed.

"Shiro..." Allura says softly, and then her eyes go wide. "You're Takashi Shirogane."

And _that's_ a name Lance recognizes. Takashi Shirogane was assassinated five years ago by the Galra, and his death was the catalyst for the fall of the largest revolutions against Fire Lord Zarkon.

It's also the entire reason why Altea exists, really.

"But you died," Lance says.

"Well, that's certainly what Zarkon wanted the world to believe. He kept me hidden away, announcing publicly that I'd been killed. It was meant to rally hope for the other nations - the Air Nomads would eagerly await the birth of a new savior - "

"Only to crumble under the realization that another Avatar had not been born." Allura's voice sounds calm, but Lance can hear the fine tremor of rage that threads through her tone.

It's a terrifying thought. Lance doesn't even want to consider what the world would be like without the ability to stand behind a unifying force like the Avatar. Altea was only ever meant to be a temporary respite - a defense force and heavily reinforced refuge for those suffering until the new Avatar was discovered and old enough to fight Zarkon, but under this plan...

"They kept Shiro as a _plaything._ " It's the first time that Keith has spoken since entering Allura's office, and Lance is taken aback by the sheer venom in his tone.

"I'm fine," Shiro says firmly. Lance eyeballs the thick scar across the bridge of his nose and doesn't believe it at all.

"We would be honored to have you stay at Altea," Allura says, ever the diplomat. She seems to have regained her footing, despite the knowledge she's stumbled upon. "I think Shiro and I have much to discuss. Lance, would you mind showing Keith where our living quarters are?"

Keith looks about as pleased about leaving Shiro alone with Allura as Lance does about being alone with Keith.

It's not like he's about to disobey a direct order, though. Especially not right in front of the Avatar. ( _Seriously,_ Hunk is going to freak when Lance tells him.)

"Come on, then," he sighs before waving a hand to collect the water pooled the ground from Shiro's display. It flows smoothly back into his water skin, and he heads out of Allura's office with Keith in tow.

The silence between them is uncomfortable, and Lance briefly considers shoving a spike of ice down Keith's tunic to get a reaction out of him that isn't angry silence.

"What's your story, then?" Lance asks eventually, mostly because the firebender is brooding so heavily he's afraid it might be contagious.

"I'm a former Galra assassin," Keith responds, and Lance freezes in place, because he _honestly_ can't tell if the guy's joking or not.

Then Keith surprises him _again,_ this time by tossing his head back and releasing a full-bodied laugh.

" _Okay_ ," Lance says a bit too loudly. His face feels uncomfortably warm, and not just because he's the butt of a joke. "I am hereby assigning you the _worst_ room."

"Your _face_ \- " the firebender chokes, and Lance has absolutely no idea how he went from angry-looking bodyguard to joke-cracking teenager in 30 seconds flat, but he can't get the image of Keith laughing out of his mind for days.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can you believe that Shiro and Keith have never ridden badgermoles before?" Pidge says loudly from atop her position on Altea's wall.

Lance tips his head upward to look at her, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun with a cupped hand. "Pidge," he says slowly, "not many people __alive__ have ridden badgermoles before. Not sure if you've noticed, but they aren't exactly the friendliest, mountable creatures."

"Most people __alive__ bend the wrong element," she responds flippantly. "Anyway, we're gonna go find some after Shiro finishes up his boring diplomatic stuff with Allura, are you in?"

They're the benders on duty for the day - Pidge serves simultaneously as the lookout and the earthbender meant to lower the wall's defenses to allow people in or out of Altea's grounds, while Lance vets any and all potential refugees attempting to join them. It's not the most stimulating of jobs, not when Lance could be training Shiro in waterbending or running across the Earth Kingdom on cool stealth missions, and they're really not supposed to be talking while on duty. It's been a slow day, though, and a couple words between them will probably go unnoticed.

Still, Pidge's question is a stupid one. Lance may not like the idea of climbing a gigantic earthbending animal - he'd much rather sled down the snow on an otter penguin, or, y'know, avoid badgermoles in general - but he definitely isn't about to turn down any opportunity to watch Keith be terrified atop one of the mountainous creatures. "If I ever say no, it's safe to assume that I've somehow been replaced with a Fire Nation operative."

She may be perched on top of a hundred-foot wall, but even from the ground Lance can see her brilliant grin.

* * *

They aren't relieved from guard duty until the sun's just about to set, but the timing works out perfectly because the two of them run into Shiro as they're making their way back to the barracks.

"It's not too late to go out, right?" Shiro asks after catching up with them, and really, Lance is affronted.

"Waterbender," he reminds him, flourishing a hand around himself as if to display his waterbending-ness. "I mean, I know you've probably never given it a second thought, but the whole moon-amplifies-my-powers thing is kind of a reassurance when it's nighttime."

"Right. Sorry," the Avatar responds with a sheepish grin, and it's so endearing Lance can't even be upset with his typical firebender self-centeredness. It really is a travesty that he was born bending fire, and not a much more preferable, higher class element like water.

But the truth is, Shiro and Keith act nothing like the defensive, aggravated firebenders that they were when they first approached Altea's front gates. Lance is loathe to admit it out loud, but his suspicions seemed to have been seriously misplaced. The both of them have proven themselves to be trustworthy allies to Altea's cause, and Allura's latched onto Shiro's abilities with a terrifying, ferocious sort of focus that probably means when all of this is over, she's going to be Empress of the known world.

Pidge manages to wrangle up Hunk and Keith, and the lot of them venture out past the safety of Altea's walls as the sun dips below the horizon.

* * *

Shiro looks absolutely delighted, and Lance can't help but smile in return at the sight of the Avatar looking so carefree.

He's currently atop a badgermole along with Hunk, and maybe he's finally unearthing ( _ _Tui and__ __La,__ why does Lance's pun prowess always go unappreciated by his friends when he's a genius?) his affinity for earthbending because Hunk is laughing and scooting across their badgermole's back to let Shiro ride in front and try to control the gigantic beast.

It makes him look __young,__ and Lance is struck by the fact that being the Avatar is probably a high-stress job that doesn't leave very much room for doing things purely for fun. Especially considering the state that Shiro and Keith arrived in - the Fire Nation obviously never did them any favors in the realm of entertainment.

No wonder he was so eager to get out.

Shiro's joy is a stark contrast to the wide-eyed terror of the dark-haired firebender currently clutching onto Pidge's small frame for dear life.

"You doing okay there, fireboy?" Lance yells over the loud clamoring of their shared badgermole, trying not to think too deeply on the fact that his own arms are wrapped quite tightly around the firebender's waist.

The creature is scurrying rapidly across the wide canyon that Pidge brought them to, and although he's done this a few times with his overly-confident earthbending friends, it still makes him a bit nervous to be astride an animal that could easily throw him to his death.

Something about being unnaturally high in the air with no source of water nearby always leaves Lance wary, but he's clearly doing better than Keith, and really, that's all that matters at the moment.

"I'm fine," Keith grits out, and turns his head to shoot a glare at the waterbender behind him - or at least, he tries to.

What __really__ happens is he jerks his head around right as Lance leans into the turn that their badgermole is taking, and their noses collide in a painful cracking of skulls.

" _ _Spirits!"__ Lance yelps as Keith lets out a similar cry of pain, and he winces instinctively before realizing that scrunching his nose up is a __horrible__ decision.

"Are you sure you're not an earthbender?" Keith hisses, sacrificing one of the arms clenching around Pidge to tenderly poke at his nose. "Your head felt like a fucking rock!"

"Am I bleeding!? I'll show you a rock to the head!" Lance swivels his head to evaluate their surroundings, but the land is unforgivingly barren of any water sources other than the small waterskin at his side. There goes his idea to bend a solid, huge chunk of ice at Keith's face. Ah, well, Plan B: "Pidge, I need you to metalbend me something real quick!"

Pidge just rolls her eyes at the two of them, but she does slow the badgermole down, and at least Keith looks less terrified than he did a minute ago, Lance thinks over the painful throbbing of his nose.

* * *

As he is wont to do, Lance is the one to ruin everything. ("Not that that's a surprise," his subconscious tells him, after the fact, and if it sounds startlingly similar to Pidge's sarcastic drawl, then that is neither here nor there.)

He finds it out on accident: it's not like he's a voyeur or anything, but he's heading toward the dining commons when he sees Keith and Shiro in what looks like the middle of a spar.

The two of them are a sight to see: both of them move in fierce, confident ways that are nothing like the waterbending Lance was raised around in the Northern Water Tribe, and it's intriguing to watch. He finds himself cataloguing their movements to go over later when he's practicing his bending.

Lance has fought with firebenders many a time, both in practice and actual battles, and the unfortunate reality that he's quickly realizing is that having two benders who have obviously been trained by the very enemy that Altea strives to destroy provides a really unique opportunity to hone his abilities.

The firebenders catch him watching after a bit, and then Shiro does his way-too-nice thing and invites Lance to spar with either of them whenever they have some downtime.

And, as Lance quickly learns after taking them up on the offer, Keith is __really__ good _ _.__ Lance can tell in the tensing of his muscles and his fluid movements that he's been in real combat situations before, possibly more often than Lance himself has. If that wasn't daunting in and of itself, then the fact that he apparently has no honor when it comes to winning a fight fairly only serves to aggravate him further.

("What the fuck, Keith? That wasn't fair." He scowls down at the singed fabric of his tunic and the stinging - albeit, mild - burn that runs down the length of his arm.

"You think the Fire Nation's going to adhere to clean fighting when they could just strike you down with a trick?" Keith smirks, but his cocky words are belied by the quickened rise and fall of his chest. At least Lance had managed to strike a few blows before being felled by Keith's dirty fighting, he thinks a bit smugly, but he still has to knock that self-satisfied smirk off the firebender's face before this spar is over.

"No," Lance growls, curving his fingers into claws to summon the water pooling around their feet. He has half a thought to heal the burn right then and there, but there's no guarantee that Keith will give him the time, and it would be a vulnerable position to be caught in given the fact that their fight is still ongoing. "But two can play at that game.")

Lance can hold his own in a fight - one of the lesser-known attributes of Altea __is__ their high concentration of extremely talented benders, after all - but when it comes down to it, he lacks the combat experience that Keith so clearly has, and the firebender kicks his ass for about a solid week before Lance manages to beat him a single time.

After that, Keith seems to acknowledge Lance's improvements by taking him more seriously, and that's simultaneously rewarding and __painful__ because the bender seems to take pride in leaving Lance a bruised and banged up mess.

It feels like his skin has been permanently singed by Keith's licks of flames and whips of fire, but when he succeeds in extinguishing Keith's attacks or manages to immobilize him within a solid block of ice, it makes all of the surface wounds __worth it.__

He improves rapidly, and things go relatively well for awhile. Keith is an effective teacher, if a rude one with absolutely no tact whatsoever when it comes to articulating tips and instructions. The firebender is blunt, and it took several days for Lance to realize that Keith's rebuffs weren't cruel jabs at his lack of prowess, but rather attempts at improving his stances and training him in practical ways of combat.

They take turns fighting under conditions that favor one element over the other. When Altea finally does challenge the Fire Nation, it's unlikely that they'll gain all the advantages they want, and besides it's incredibly useful for Lance to learn to fight against firebenders when the sun is high in the sky and there's scarce water about, just as it's beneficial for Keith to better utilize his element when there is freely flowing water nearby and ready to quench his flame.

And Lance is a quick study: although Keith is generally the winner of their fights, he's learned some of the patterns of the firebender's fighting style, and he manages to gain a leg up on Keith more consistently the longer they continue to fight. It's incredibly satisfying to fell Keith, too, and fills him with a sense of confidence that he's never quite achieved while sparring with Pidge or Allura.

It's one such victory when things come crashing down around Lance's head. They're fighting in the middle of the day while the sun beats down on the both of them, but Lance still has Keith backed into a corner with several spears of ice hovering dangerously close to his arteries. It's looking like a clear win, at least to Lance, when Keith lets out a rumbling __growl__ from deep in his chest and disregards the incredibly sharp, incredibly close-to-vital-veins weapons floating around him in favor of charging Lance head-on.

He must've been banking on the fact that Lance wouldn't have __actually__ attempted to bleed him out in the middle of a practice fight, Lance thinks dizzily as his back hits the ground, hard, and the breath is forced out of his lungs.

Keith grins down at him, twin curls of flames burning within the grasp of his hands, and he's a heavy weight sitting directly on Lance's __lap.__

Lance gulps, and not just because of the fact that his hair is dangerously close to being singed by Keith's bending.

It has more to do with the fact that Keith's hips are pressing down into Lance's own, and the way he's looking down at him, chest heaving with the effort of their grappling, which is positively sinful. He can't help but consider that __this__ is how Keith must look in different, more pleasurable circumstances - arching over him, rubbing against him, cheeks flushed with exertion and gasping for breath -

"Fuck," Lance says hoarsely, and then he shoves frantically at Keith's shoulders so that he can scramble away from the cage of the bender's hips and knees. "Fine, __fine,__ you win."

Keith rocks back on his heels, wide grin still fixed in place. "You can't hesitate to strike a killing blow, even if it looks like you've won the battle, alright?"

This is where Lance would typically retort with some comment about their fight being a __pretend__ battle, and how he would've pierced an enemy's spirits-damned neck in an instant with an ice lance if he really was a threat - but that makes him think about piercing Keith with a different kind of _ _lance__ and __shit, shit, shit__ -

"I just remembered I'm - late, to a. A __thing,__ " Lance says, because he needs to remove himself from this situation immediately if Keith is to remain oblivious to the fact that Lance is now sporting a very inconvenient erection.

Judging by the weird look Keith shoots him, his excuse doesn't sound very convincing, but he blessedly doesn't call him out on it. Lance vacates the premise with such haste that starts to wonder if __he__ is the actual Avatar, not Shiro, because he appears to have mastered airbending away from incredibly awkward situations.

Honestly, though, the worst part of it isn't that he'd lost a sparring match with Keith, or that he managed to embarrass himself in front of someone whose respect he had finally gained.

The worst part of it all is that he had been __perfectly fine__ before the sudden realization that Keith was attractive. Sure, he'd noticed before that the bender was easy on the eyes - and even if he didn't, the way the younger refugees acted whenever they caught Keith walking by was a pretty clear indicator - but subconsciously acknowledging something like that is entirely separate from staring down the fact that his body reacts quite viscerally to Keith's close proximity.

All of the pieces fall neatly into place after that, and Lance feels like an idiot for not realizing why he'd been so desperate for Keith's approval lately, why sniping at him and goading him into anger or agitation was so satisfying. (Because any emotional reaction the firebender has is because of _ _Lance,__ and even if it's not the affection he's apparently been vying for, it's better than __nothing__.)

There's only one thing to do after the realization, and that's to avoid Keith like he's the Dai Li and Lance just staged a coup against the Earth King. Because if Keith does something like pin him down again during one of their spars, it's going to be impossibly hard (holy shit, someone just throw him into a volcano immediately) to hide the fact that Lance's urges to beat the shit out of Keith in a spar have transformed into a desperate need to _ _kiss__ the shit out of him.

Avoiding him is easier said than done, though, because Keith has apparently wormed his way directly into his friend group without Lance noticing. Keith dines with Pidge during meals, splits a shift at the wall with Hunk, and even hangs out around Allura's office whenever she needs help relaying important messages across the vast expanse of Altea's land. He's become part of Altea's closely-knit community, which means that Lance struggles indefinitely to remain out of sight and mind.

It's even more difficult to ignore the flash of hurt that passes through Keith's eyes whenever he rejects an offer to spar, but Lance is nothing if not stubborn, and maybe he'll be able to say yes to a fight when his body stops betraying him and popping severely inconvenient boners whenever he even thinks of Keith's stupid, pretty face.

* * *

There is an oasis in the middle of the painful desert that is Lance's hormones, at least.

One of the biggest perks about being the best waterbender in all of Altea is that he's apparently qualified to train the Avatar in his bending arts. And, as an Altean agent, it's a great honor to serve his leaders through diligent training and - and who is Lance kidding? Even though he's been giving Shiro lessons for weeks, now, it still fills him with a giddy, childish sense of excitement to impart his knowledge onto the fate of the entire world.

"Tui and La are forever encircling one another, pushing and pulling," Lance says, spreading a hand reverently over an authentic waterbending scroll that speaks of the legendary spirits. There's a beautifully painted image of the koi fish sprawled out over the thin paper, and he looks down at it wonderingly for a moment. "As waterbenders, we owe everything to the Moon and Ocean Spirits. It's said that the first waterbender learned by watching the way the moon controlled the tides of the ocean."

"They're beautiful," the Avatar says. "We learned almost nothing of other nations' spirits within the Fire Nation. It's an honor to see the foundations of your culture, Lance."

"The tides are controlled by the moon, but the ocean is vast and powerful. The two work in harmony despite their differences, caught in an eternal ebb and flow."

The awe in Shiro's eyes fades into something that looks less reverent and more smug, and Lance frowns. This doesn't seem to bode well for him.

"So Tui and La are similar despite their differences?"

"They're counterparts," Lance says warily, not sure where Shiro's going with this. "Dark can't exist without the light, and all that."

"Opposites, but complementary?" At Lance's reluctant nod, the Avatar grins. "Like... fire and water?"

And there it is. Lance's cheeks burn. "You - "

"Have known Keith for a __long__ time, and can tell when someone catches his attention."

And, well. That was definitely not what Lance had expected Shiro to say. "You think he likes me?" he sputters out. Which is ridiculous, because Lance is - obnoxious, and constantly picks fights with him (verbally and physically) and Keith probably hates him -

"Lance, Keith doesn't open up to just anyone. What happened to him... it's not my story to tell, but I've also seen him so eager to spend time with anyone like he does with you." Shiro is much too genuinely kind of a person to lie to him about something like this, and Lance swallows thickly.

How often had Keith asked him to spar, or go to the dining hall with him? __Spirits__ , has he been ignorantly pushing away someone trying to get close to him because of his own insecurities?

The thought cuts far too close to the quick, and Lance scrambles for something to get his mind off of it.

"Enough about firebenders, though. I've heard it's all about those glasses-wearing earthbenders, right?" It's mostly just a hunch at this point, given how little Lance has actually __seen__ Shiro interact with Pidge's brother, but Shiro's immediate reaction cements his suspicions and distracts him sufficiently.

"Look," Shiro says quickly, and at least Lance isn't the only one blushing, now. "Hunk is a great teacher - Pidge not so much, but at least she tried - but I just think Matt has a lot of theoretical knowledge that would be incredibly beneficial to know while I study earthbending."

Lance gives him a __look,__ and Shiro stares back at him, defiantly, but they barely hold each others' gazes for a minute before the two of them are dissolving into laughter.

"Okay," he concedes, giggles still bubbling out of his throat as he looks down at the waterbending scroll unrolled over the table. "Maybe we're both a bit ridiculous. Or infatuated."

Shiro chokes as soon as he says the word before relapsing into another fit of laughs, and Lance is quick to join him.

There's a bundle of __something__ that's been sitting heavily in his stomach for as long as he's been avoiding Keith, but talking to Shiro unknots it the slightest bit.

* * *

On week three of "ignore Keith at all costs unless you want him to notice your frequent raging boners," Lance unceremoniously gives up. His traitorous body is showing no signs of ceasing its ridiculous behaviors, and honestly, he __misses__ Keith. It isn't worth it to avoid him anymore, not when so few people around Altea can put up with Lance's banter for as long as the firebender can. And their spars are as fun as they are productive.

Lance has been steeling himself for the awkward conversation that will surely arise the first time he finds himself uncomfortably aroused by Keith's ridiculous... everything, but the collateral damage will be worth it if it means fixing their friendship.

He finds the perfect opportunity as he's heading into the dining hall, where he spots Keith and Hunk seated off in the distance and engaged in deep conversation.

Lance rolls his shoulders and straightens his back, convincing himself that good posture will make him seem less awkward as he slides onto the bench next to Keith with his tray of food.

"How's it going?" he asks, overly casual, and Keith looks up at him with a startled expression, as if he's surprised that Lance has manifested anywhere remotely near him.

Which - of course he is, given Lance's behavior as of late.

"Wonderful," Hunk says, and he's a blessing to pretend that there isn't weird tension between the two benders in front of him. "Allura wants me to head into Ba Sing Se later today to pass along a few messages, do you guys want anything?"

"Some loose leaves from the Jasmine Dragon would be great," Keith says from beside him, and whoa, he had no idea Keith was interested in stuff like that. "I'll write you a list of a few different types?"

"Sure thing." Hunk shoots a questioning glance toward Lance, who starts because he definitely had __not__ been thinking about Keith settling into a comfortable chair and enjoying a nice cup of tea. Having wet dreams about the firebender is one thing, but this is just disgustingly __domestic.__

"No, I think I'm good. Appreciate it, though."

Awkward silence falls around them after he speaks, and Lance __can't__ be imagining how tense Keith is beside him. The worst part is that he has absolutely no idea how to remedy the situation, other than by maybe grabbing Keith's shoulders and kissing him so hard he can't even protest.

Which is __probably__ a bad idea, and instead of doing so, Lance's mouth opens up without his permission. To his mounting horror, he actually mutters Keith's name.

Stupid brain, doing things without his permission.

"What?" Keith asks, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest defensively.

Lance lets out an aggravated noise and shoves a hand through his hair in frustration. "I just wanted to - apologize. For avoiding you. It was stupid, okay, and I won't do it anymore."

"I think this is the second time in my entire life that I've seen Lance say sorry," Hunk says, staring between the two of them.

" _ _Hunk,"__ Lance whines, because he's trying here, his friend should be __supporting__ him.

"Why?" Keith asks, and his voice is deceptively soft, though Lance can detect an undercurrent of something thrumming through the single word.

Lance turns to see that Keith's fists are clenched tightly, and even though they're sitting about a foot apart he can feel the heat rolling off of him in waves.

"It's stupid," Lance says again, hyperaware of the infuriated firebender in close proximity to him. "I'll spare you the gory details, so can't we just get to the you-forgiving-me part?"

"You can't just - treat me like shit and then expect me to pretend it never happened- "

Keith's voice is raised and angry, loud enough that a couple heads in the dining commons have turned in their direction, and Lance flushes as he realizes Keith isn't going to let up until he gets an explanation.

"Look," Lance says, trying to get the words out as quickly as possible so he can flee immediately thereafter. "I'm a spry teenager and hormones are a thing, okay? And my dick's taken fucking notice about the way you look, so I'm sorry if that disgusts you but I promise I won't pull anything gross just because I'm - __attracted__ to you, so if we could just move past this and go back to being friends, that would be __great.__ "

Hunk stares at him.

 _ _Keith__ stares at him.

Lance prays vehemently for the earth to swallow him up right here and now - seriously, what good is having an earthbender as a best friend if he won't grant Lance a swift death?

This was such a stupid idea. He'd been overconfident after talking to Shiro that Keith __felt__ something for him, but the blank way the firebender is staring at him obviously determines that to be a lie. Of __course__ Shiro only meant Keith wanted to be his fucking friend, what else could he have possibly meant?

" _ _Anyway.__ Moving on," Lance says loudly, heart pounding a rapid rhythm in his ears, and the words snap Keith out of whatever trance he's in as he fixes him with a glare.

"You complete idiot," Keith hisses, and then his fingers are gripping at Lance's arm like a vice as he pulls him out of his seat.

"Spirits, Keith, __what__ \- " he yelps as he's veritably dragged out of the dining hall, and as he's led into one of the more private alcoves around Altea's stronghold he realizes very suddenly that now they're __alone.__ Which is very dangerous, considering Lance's traitorous body and the way it typically reacts when around Keith.

"If you want to beat the shit out of me, I totally get it," he says, trying to inject some humor into the situation to distract his dick from rising to the occasion, and besides, it's true; Lance is totally deserving of whatever punishment Keith wants to dole out, even if he wants to bring out the bending.

But Keith doesn't summon fire, nor does he do anything but stare down Lance firmly as he asks, "You've been avoiding me because I make you _ _hard?__ "

The way Keith says it, it sounds filthy, and Lance definitely does __not__ whimper involuntarily. The owl-cat's out of the bag, anyway, and he offers a timid, "Yes... ?"

And then Keith is shoving Lance up against a nearby wall, and speaking of getting hard _ _-__

"I can't believe you put us both through this," Keith growls, and any retort that Lance has falls to the wayside as Keith presses a knee between his thighs.

It's a decidedly surprising action, and Lance really can't help but gasp softly as the pressure of Keith's firm thigh hits just __right__ against his rapidly-hardening length.

"Keith," he tries to say, but his voice lilts confusingly on the word and comes out sounding more like a strangled question.

But Keith doesn't respond verbally - instead, he leans forward, and then he's __kissing__ Lance, lips hard and unforgiving as they press against his own, and suddenly, Keith's reaction to this entire thing __makes sense.__

 _ _Tui and La,__ Lance thinks as he pulls away from Keith's mouth to gasp for air. Keith __wants__ him.

As soon as the thought crosses his mind, he grinds down unthinkingly onto Keith's thigh, which is still pressing between his own legs, and Keith hisses. The friction feels magnificent, and he rolls his hips again against the hard muscle of Keith's leg.

"Idiot," Keith huffs, but it sounds almost fond, and then he shifts his body away from Lance's and ignores the waterbender's soft whine of, "No," as his thigh slips out from between Lance's own.

The complaint dissolves into nothing as Keith is drops down onto his knees, as though they aren't in the middle of Altea's compound and potentially in danger of being caught doing things that clearly shouldn't be done in public.

" _ _Spirits."__ Lance is almost positive that this is some kind of dream or something. But Keith's body temperature runs hot, as if his elemental affinity courses through his bloodstream, and Lance inhales sharply as heated fingers press along his own, cooler skin. The sensations feel way too good to be a figment of his imagination.

From his position, Keith wastes no time in shoving his trousers out of the way, and Lance wants to ask where his confidence came from as much as he wants Keith's mouth to wrap around his dick immediately instead of doing something as useless as __talking.__

Dreams apparently do come true, because the dark-haired teen locks eyes with him before withdrawing his dick from the confines of his bindings and licking a long stripe up its length. The action causes a shiver to wrack Lance's entire frame, and he mutters something unintelligibly that _ _definitely__ isn't a plea for mercy.

"What was that?" Keith asks smugly, and the way his breath ghosts over Lance's dick just isn't __fair.__

He manages to hold his ground for about three seconds while Keith pumps his hand almost lazily up and down his cock before he breaks.

" _ _Please__ \- " Lance begs, praying to Tui and La that Keith won't remember how pathetically __easy__ he is. "I __need__ your mouth around me."

Firebenders have clearly unlocked some sort of biological cheat, because the heat of Keith's mouth as he envelops Lance's cock has him edging toward climax almost immediately, and he jerks his head back and into the wall he's pressed up against in an attempt at regaining some semblance of control. (Who is he trying to kid, though - he's fucking putty in Keith's skillful hands and mouth - )

The pain helps him recover, at least a bit, but then he makes the mistake of looking down, and the way that Keith's eyes water as he swallows around Lance's dick is almost __too much__.

Somehow, without his noticing, his hands have threaded themselves through the thick mane of Keith's hair, and he tugs on the strands as the firebender shoots him a motherfucking __wink__ and hums around his cock.

Lance's hips buck up involuntarily and into the almost too-hot heat of Keith's throat, and shit, he really isn't going to last, especially if Keith looks up at him again through his fringe and with that victorious __glint__ in his eyes -

Keith pulls away a gods-damned __milisecond__ before he's about to come, and looks at him with an absolutely sinful smirk.

"Wha - " Lance gasps incomprehensibly, and even the single word is an exertion because he's so hard he can't even organize a cohesive thought, and the Keith's spit on his dick is cooling rapidly in the air, and for __some spirits-forsaken reason__ Lance __still__ hasn't orgasmed.

"If you'd just told me about this weeks ago, this could've ended a bit differently," Keith says, and through an aroused haze Lance manages to string together the thought that he has __no__ business looking this fuckable. His hair's mussed up, sticking out in all directions courtesy of Lance's roaming fingers, and his lips are pink and swollen. A thin trail of saliva still connects his mouth to Lance's cock, and __nothing makes sense.__

Lance watches, dazed and disbelieving, as Keith rubs his forearm over his mouth, stands up straight, tucks Lance's dick back into his trousers, and pats his crotch lightly.

"Consider this your punishment for being a complete idiot," he says, but Lance's mind is still caught on the fact that he __hasn't come yet__ to even muster any kind of confused response.

And then Keith is __walking away,__ and Lance's wobbly knees give out without Keith there to support him. He slides to the ground, uncaring of the way the hard ground presses uncomfortably against his tailbone, and his eyes track Keith's figure as he oh-so-casually walks away, as if half a minute ago he wasn't on his knees and sucking Lance's spirit out through his dick.

What even just __happened__?

* * *

Things could definitely be worse, Lance thinks, once he's recovered from the fact that Keith apparently doesn't hate his guts and is, in fact, the biggest tease in the entire world. The Avatar's quickly becoming a master at waterbending and earthbending, and while they're still lacking an airbending teacher, Altea stands a __way__ better chance at taking down the Fire Nation with Shiro on their side.

Keith remains as unpredictable and impulsive as his element, and he's a filthy __tease,__ but, considering the way Keith fights - ruthless, dirty, using every advantage he possibly can - Lance thinks that their spars are about to get a __lot__ more interesting.


End file.
